RUSTY ZINN PAYS TRIBUTE TO SLY DUNBAR

My dear friend Rusty Zinn, the musician who is equally at home playing blues or reggae, recently posted this memory of Sly Dunbar on Facebook. Sly's partnership with Robbie Shakespeare was truly legendary - the two of them formed one of the most enduring partnerships in Jamaican music, and played together in literally countless sessions. Rusty was fortunate to know and play with Sly. 
As Facebook is a kind of 'here today, gone tomorrow' type of media, I asked Rusty if it was OK to put his tribute to Sly up on this website, where it will hopefully endure a good bit longer than the original Facebook post. Here,,in his own words, is Rusty's tribute.

Rusty Zinn & Sly Dunbar



As many of you know, we lost the legendary Sly Dunbar earlier this week. I was shocked. I wasn't ready for that. He was only 73 years old. 
I really wanted to pay tribute to Sly here because he was so kind to me. I first met him through my friend, Mikey Chung when Mikey came through the Bay Area to perform in San Francisco on tour with Sly & Robbie and The Taxi Gang. After the show I gave Mikey, Nambo Robinson and Sly a ride back to their hotel across the bridge in Emeryville, as they were staying at a Holiday Inn not far from where I lived. 
When I said goodnight to them, Sly shook my hand and said "Rusty, we'll see You in Jamaica". I replied, "Sly, I don't know if I'll ever get to Jamaica". He smiled and said, "Mikey is gonna figure something out"! About a year later, I found myself in Kingston, Jamaica for the purpose of making a record. It's a very long story with many details, but for now, I will just focus on Sly. 
There I was at the Mixing Lab singing and playing guitar, performing several tunes I had composed in the United States, with Mikey Chung on guitar, Robbie Lyn on keyboards, Scully Simms on percussion, Boris Gardiner on bass, and of course, Sly on drums. It was supposed to be Robbie Shakespeare on bass, but that didn't quite work out. Another long-detailed story. Anyhow, I have to say, I was nervous. 
I couldn't believe I was in the birthplace of Reggae music with five absolute legends. Five gentlemen who were literally the architects of Reggae music. I had already made a recording in California with some other legendary pioneers of Reggae, the Soul Syndicate with my friend Tony Chin, Fully Fullwood and Santa Davis. Of course, that was also a thrill, but being in Kingston in a proper Reggae recording studio with these guys felt like another level of fantasy for me. 
I was so nervous, my knees were knocking together on the first track I sang and recorded with them. I had to go outside and get some air after that first song and try and muster up some more courage and confidence. 
When I got outside, Sly had already snuck out of the drum booth and gone outside. He looked at me with a huge grin from ear to ear and said, "Rusty mi nah never know you sing so wicked". He said, "who wrote that chune"?, referring to the first song we had just tracked. I responded, "I did"! Sly said, "Wicked". He then told me he was going to send me some Sly & Robbie rhythm's for me to write and sing on. At the time I didn't really believe him. I thought that would be way too good to be true. We went back inside to track more songs for the record and Sly had really charged me with positive energy and belief in what I was doing to go ahead and soar. 
That's how Sly was. An absolute legend and total innovator in Jamaican music, yet he always remained kind, humble,sincere and soft spoken. He didn't carry himself like the star that he was. He was just organic and natural and easy to talk to. 
After I returned home from that trip to Kingston, I couldn't believe it when Sly sent me two brand new Sly and Robbie tracks for me to write and sing new songs for. I did so and they were released on Sly and Robbie's Taxi/One Pop label. What an honor that was for me. Sly was so generous and was trying to spread the word about my singing and my Reggae music. 
It was because of Sly that I got some airplay on the mighty David Rodigan's BBC radio show in London. Sly took it upon himself to send Rodigan an email introducing me and my music. The song he sent him wasn't even a track that he was on. It was a Lovers Rock song that I had written and recorded in California. He told the legendary London-based Reggae journalist, John Masouri, about me and played him one of my tracks. He was selflessly creating awareness about me and my voice. He made me feel like a million dollars. 
When I first met Bitty McLean, one of my favorite singers, I introduced myself to him and he said "wait, are you Rusty Zinn"? I said, "Yes. How do you know my name". Bitty said "Sly talks about you all the time and says you are one of the greatest Reggae singers in the world"!!! I thought to myself "what the fuck"? LOL!!! 
I would always go and visit Sly when he would tour through my hometown area in California. Often he would invite me to his hotel. He liked to get up early, so I would regularly arrive at his hotel room as early as 10:00 AM. I would always bring him good quality chocolate. He was crazy about real chocolate. He would get that big grin on his face when I handed him a few varieties of chocolate and say "wicked". He would go sit back down on his bed after greeting me at the door and instantly dive into savoring one of the chocolates, relishing every bite as we talked for hours about music, records, musicians, musical gear etc like the music geeks that we both truly were. I really cherished every moment spent with Sly. 
There is so much more that I could say, but I think I will sign off and just say 'Thank You, Sly for everything you did for me. Thank You for being so supportive and making me believe in myself. I will always be grateful and hopefully one day I will see you on the other side and be able to thank you once again. Rest easy star. You will be missed by millions of people here on earth, but your music will play on and always continue to inspire and influence people. Rest In Power my Friend!'

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